Complete and Creative

How to Stay in Shape While Traveling (3/3)

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My Routine (not while traveling)

“Routine” is not the exact word I want, but it seems to do the trick.

Part of my routine includes throwing friends into the water at beach parties.

I don’t really eat six meals a day. I merely keep my breakfast, lunch, and dinner small and eat healthy snacks in between.

I keep my workout to within an hour. Any longer, and my muscles will burn out from the intensity. If I can go longer, then my workout isn’t intense enough. (That can be taken so many different ways.)

I work out between three and five times a week. Any less than three isn’t really enough. Any more than five, and I will start suspecting whether I have a social life.

The first thing I do after getting off work is go for a jog. Just somewhere between one and two miles. Nothing too long. When I come back, I do a variety of exercises that work out my entire body.

I must admit, though, that I pay special attention to my abs. I can tell you that the core muscles are vital in a way that no other muscle group is essential, but to be quite honest I do it for the aesthetics.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, core muscles really are uniquely important. They’re called “core” muscles for a reason. They’re at the center of you.

And core doesn’t just refer to abs. It’s everything in the middle of you, so that includes lower back. Core muscles are indispensable for everything from properly getting up in the morning to kicking the snot out of someone you don’t like, from something as fun as throwing a football to something else that is perhaps even more fun, like having sex.

Okay, well, now that we’ve established how important core muscles are, let’s move on.

I like pull-ups and push-ups because they exercise your entire body. If you think they only exercise certain muscle groups, you’ve probably been doing them wrong. Both exercises begin with tensing your core, then your legs, and continuous muscle training of your entire upper body: arms, shoulders, chest. Whichever part gets the most pressure depends on your stance.

Specifically for core, I like to use a Swiss ball, balance board, and weighted hula hoop.

I don’t really like to use free weights, since they tend to be only good for isolated muscle workouts, and in real life, you never just use one muscle group. The different groups have to work together.

My Routine (while traveling)

Naturally, I don’t have even my small assortment of exercise equipment with me while traveling. Joining a gym when you’re going to be in a city for only a few days is just silly. However, some cities offer gyms that are pay-per-visit.

Basically, I don’t let circumstances deter me. I try to maintain the same standards for diet and exercise even while traveling.

It’s not always convenient, though. I mean, you’re paying so much for that vacation. You obviously can’t let something like staying healthy get in the way of enjoying your time there as much as you can, right? Well, a lot of people pay a lot of money in attempts to get back into shape, sometimes more money than some people pay for vacations.

Same rules should apply whether you’re at home or on vacation. Don’t overeat. Stay away from foods containing exuberant amounts of sugar and fat and salt. But sometimes you just have to break this rule.

I mean, you can’t forgo Belgian chocolate while you’re in Brussels. Anything in moderation is fine, really. Yes…even…nah, fast food is still on my blacklist.

As stated above, if you’re backpacking, you should be getting a significant amount of cardio and strength training as it is.

So…

I’m sure I’m not the only traveler with thoughts on this subject. Certain parts of this article might be insufficient to some, but despite popular belief, I am not perfect. Anyone care to pitch in on anything I missed?

About food, take a look at this blog. I frequent it for fun facts that I wouldn’t find otherwise.